{ HORSEMEN END } The Purge is over/ THE TOUR (p.4!)

[Syusaki]

She woke up to a single realization: Death was gone.

If the war horseman had been anyone else, perhaps she would have stared at Medea with skepticism, perhaps with horror as she ran her gaze down the charred and peeling bits of the priestess’ body. She had paid a dear price for what she had accomplished. Every single word that fell out of the woman’s lips never reached Jay’s ears. She never had a need for pompous speeches and flowery words. Charisma had never been very important to her. There was only one fact that managed to grab her whimsical attention, her hands never letting go.

They were no longer lost. She wanted to say it was a shame to have lost a powerful being like Death, but that would be a lie. There was no need for something against them. This suited her fine.

Things like solidarity was a concept she had lost a long time ago, but one thing remained true—what she wanted and what the Clans wanted were one and the same.

So she stepped forward with a smile.  

[chirigami]

It was understood from those two simple words what Lurks could be thinking, because for now meant that they could change their minds if other options opened to them in the future; some without such dire conditions attached. "Interesting and unintended results can often come from waiting," he told his brother, repeating the words he had conveyed to others when they had arrived at that strange location.

Perhaps they could be applied here as well. But agreed, "yes. For now," he was a few steps behind but he followed after his brother to join with Medea to her promised future of the Four Clans and a new - old? - home. At least he hadn't exactly settled in those offered in Halloween.

Hopefully he would be able to go back to retrieve his things, though.

astrazilla

 

[Seussi]

He reached up to scratch at the back of his neck with nails that weren't encased with steel before letting his arm drop again. Closing his eyes for a moment, frowning, he attempted to clear his head, to give the priestess an honest answer in return, if he could. Letting out a loud huffing sigh, his broad shoulders rising and falling, and his eyes opening once more, he turned to face her a little more fully.

"I have..mixed feelings about what has transpired." He admitted. "There was something strangely satisfying about seeing one so powerful fall." It was a hard truth, one that he was not exactly proud of, but it was how he felt.

"But there is a part of me that does not understand why things had to end the way they did. Perhaps I have been gone too long to understand." After all, he had only just arrived but a bare few months before, and had missed out on much of what had happened in the last two years since the horsemen had first arrived here.

Eyes flicked back towards Medea. "She seems...different now. Almost subdued in comparison...Though she does not seem to lack in confidence." She seems almost normal, now, he thought, but did not say out loud. Had the power of destruction left her completely? It had certainly seemed like she'd had to use all of the power she held to destroy Death.

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Since she had given him honesty, she appreciated the honesty back in turn. Though he admitted his satisfaction at seeing the powerful fall, she gave a genial smile, appreciating the comments moreso than the sentiment behind them.

He was honest. She could say more of that than she could say of some there.

Nkosazana stayed quiet, listening to him, though she chuckled at the remark that Medea now seemed subdued. Perhaps so. "She's subdued because she accomplished what she wished to for the moment. I still can tell she's powerful. Powerful and confident." Though perhaps not quite as powerful as she was when she summoned so many tendrils to tear Death asunder. Death. Medea had killed Death. What was their clan without Death itself?

"I don't think this had to end the way it did. I think more patience is, er," she sighed, "was," she supposed there was no point to patience now, "key. We're long lived. Our enemies would have been dead and gone in a meer blink of an eye, really." She shook her head. She understood that being second fiddle in Halloween did not do much for confidence, but was such action necessary? "I suppose the end question is, does the end justify the means?"

Nkosazana licked her lips idly.

"War would be eager to say yes, but I don't think I agree."

Her statements seemed to imply she was inclined not to follow Medea.

Seussi

making a quick edit because I'm about to crash, sorry for the double-quotes! <33

 

[Pixie Nyxie]

Aeron made a small scoff of a sound as Shik slapped him on the back, looking over at the War horseman.

"That brat..." His wings unfurled, shaking before settling down at his side, a clear sign of agitation where his face showed none. "Next time I see the brat, I will end him, as he thought to do to me. Though Shikoba, I appreciate the thought of avenging...."

A very rare, a very happy smile actually graced Aeron's lips before disappering. "We have purpose again, we have home again. We are horseman again." He laughed, "We walked the stone bridge when it could crumble under us."

Aeron's gaze turned to Thrain as Shaheen/Shikoba took to a very public display of affection, his training partner and friend and walked to the fellow guardian.

"What of you Thrain, What do you think of this?" Aeron reached out, resting his hand on Thrain's shoulder. "Are you happy? or not happy?"

Seussi

Ol-j-Man

AyeAvast

 

[Pixie Krysta Ordreg]

Kas woke, glancing around at the other ponies around her.

Instantly, she pulls her hood back up, just feeling more comfortable with it as she listen to what Medea had to say. The whole time she chews on her bottom lip, really unsure of which side she stood with at the moment. Part of her, honestly thought walking away would be the best. Except she kept glancing towards the hooded figure, and couldn't help but wonder if maybe she had a chance that family was among them. Still she didn't move, even after she saw a familiar War pony move forward.

She knew his choice, so this made things more confusing for her. Walking away, had she been alone would be easy for her. Except, she wasn't alone. Staying with Medea meant home for her, it was always like that up until she let for training.

Looking down for a moment, she was fighting with herself until she sighs and slips pass a few ponies. Standing carefully beside Yves, she reach out to slip her hand into his and squeeze it.

She would stay and join Medea's side....

Only because she didn't even want to think about trying live outside the Four Clans.

baby_gwing

 

[Zoobey]

Medea waits, she does not urge nor push. There are greater gods and there are lesser gods, and there are those who would forfeit an opportunity but always of their own choice. She waits, until those who cannot see her vision leave, those who cannot see her vision act through non-decision and then stands again proud, gesturing to the tower itself.

"This is ours, and once, long ago, had a greater name. It's name was Όλυμπος; and there, on the greatest summit, the Old Gods ruled. Their legacy is now ours, their blessings, their power, their inherited treasure ours to earn and look after. This way, we have much to still uncover about our pasts, and it is just beginning, just the very edge, to unravel. When all that belongs here is uncovered, we will be nearly complete."

She walks, and beckons you to follow. You walk into the tower base again, but this time it is not dark, and it is not full of strange rooms. Instead, there is just one grand room, a beautiful room made of white marble, twelve columns surrounding the outer edge. There is a plaque in front of each column but it has long been rubbed away, the names forgotten. In the center is a beautiful fountain, it seems just looking at it creates a sense of nostalgia.

"This once was called Λήθη, but like all those of our legacy, just as we have been reborn as the Four Clans, it too changed names until it was known as simply, nameless. This is where we will begin. Your fragments, your distortion fragments. Take them, and use the water to purify them. We shall begin anew, all of it, all of what we were, even our past transgressions can be forgiven, and this is the first step forward. Once you have purified your fragment, come to the forge, and we will repurpose it."

Medea gestured upwards. "Look up, to the sky."

The sky, above the pillars, was made of infinite points of light, stars perhaps. No, they were not stars, they were too close to be stars. They were individual rooms, corridors, what seemed like almost infinite space. It stretched upwards, up, up, up, until the tiny blots seemed like the most miniscule cluster of stars possible.

"This is ours. Our legacy, our rebirth. When your distortion crystal has been purified, when your work begins anew, I will show you everything you have the rights to, everything you can learn and create, and all that you can uncover. We can only start at a single point, but from there, earn and uncover so much more."

OOC

ALL HORSEMEN

- Consider this a "bridge" tag as part of the introduction to the NEW home of the Four Clans, Όλυμπος (also known as Olympus). Medea is doing an IC introduction of where they are, and what is about to happen, and from there explain all the new clan lodgings and roles! The next tag will happen in 24 hours! If you haven't responded to the first tag you may as well, along with this second one!

 

[Midnightglow18]

Eye finally made a decision and she wasn't going to wait any longer or wait around like a frightened child to see what the others did, she wanted to move forward and grow. She stepped forward into the tower and she stood there in wonder, this didn't look like the horrifying tower she had fought her way through who knew how long ago, who was to say how time had worked in the madness of the tower before.

Eye nodded her head to Medea, perhaps her ways were harsh and cruel, but Eye didn't want to forsake all she was, to live a life of a.. Well she wasn't sure what she would be if she left the clan, but that wasn't what she wanted to be. She went to the water and purified her fragment, as she did she left go of the past, letting the water wash it all away. Letting go of the pain and lose of her friends and family.

Eye looked up and waited to see what would happen next..  

[baby_gwing]

Yves watched closely without so much as uttering a single word as Kas approached. As much as he wanted to persuade her to stay with Medea, the Four Clans and him, he did nothing of that sort. This was a decision that the Death Guardian was going to have to make herself. The moment he felt her hand slip into his and tighten around it, he allowed himself to release the breath that he wasn't even aware he had been holding. "Thank you... for staying." He muttered, giving her hand a squeeze in return as he stretched one of his wings out around her back to lightly brush its tip along the side of her arm.

At Medea's beckoning to the group that remained, he gently tugged Kas along, eager to see what awaited them next. Stepping into the white marble grand room, he stopped to take in the majestic sight as Medea continued with her introductions and instructions. After taking refuge on the outskirts of Halloween Town for the past couple of years, the Horsemen finally had a home of their own again.

He glanced over at Kas, wondering what she was making of all this even as the priestess hinted at a great many things that awaited them next once they've all gotten their distortion fragments purified by the fountain water. "So... shall we?" He fished out the distortion fragment that he had always carried with him in his pocket, having not had the time nor chance to seek out a jewel crafter to get it set into an accessory of his own choosing all this while, guiding the young mare beside him to the fountain before dipping the fragment into the water to begin the process of cleansing it.

Pixie Krysta Ordreg

 

[prolixity]

Medea had won, and thus Qarah remained. Had Charon somehow won, it would have remained also. It was of Famine, and it had no desire to lose that, and, anyway, it was drawn to power like moths to light. (The thought of moths made it frown, just a little.)

It would not, however, draw attention to itself by being the first to go to the fountain. It folded its hands under its shawl and waited patiently, eyes scanning the assembled to see who was brave enough, who was foolish enough to step forward and declare themselves.  

[Seussi]

"Oh I think she is still powerful yes. She would need to be or I imagine the force that she wielded to destroy Death himself would have torn her apart." No, instead it had completely unhinged her, or so it had seemed. But now? Now she seemed so much more calm.

....If not a little charbroiled.

He listened to the Priestesses words as she explained her feelings further, and was without a doubt given the impression that she was not happy. Wrath considered this for a moment, a frown creasing his forehead as he reached up to stroke at his chin.

"If I may be so bold to say so, priestess, I am not sure in this case that I agree." He shifted his stance slightly, a little bit uncomfortable with the fact that he might be heading into an argument, though he hoped that it might not be the case. The priestess seemed level headed enough, at least, and seemed to appreciate his honesty rather then scorn him for it.

"I was away from the clans for many years, stationed in the human world. When I left, things were normal. Horsemen reaped fear from the living, killed for power. We were strong, vibrant, vicious and unstoppable. We all had our parts to play, I a soldier, eager to follow instruction and prove myself in the field. Priestesses, guardians, jewel crafters...all different but striving towards the same goals. Strength. Pride. We were not known as the horsemen of the apocalypse for nothing."

He paused, taking a deep breath. Wrath was not normally one for many words, but there were times when he had much to say, though he hoped he conveyed his words properly, and that he got his point across without coming out looking a fool.

"Two years the horsemen have lived, a broken race, and have survived on charity alone. From what I have seen since returning is a race that has gone soft. In just two years attitudes have changed drastically. Many have forgotten just who they are. How would patience have served us? In just a few more years, living how we were, we would have been forgotten, and faded beyond repair, or worse. If anything, I believe we waited far too long already. I do not pretend to understand what Death's methods were, but as an outsider looking in, it seemed very wrong."

As he finished speaking, his eyes widened slightly, and his face began to turn a bit red as he coughed into a hand.

"I am sorry. And I am sorry you feel how you do." He took pause then, as Medea began to speak once more, offering them a tour of their new home. Remaining quiet for a time longer, he shifted again, and held out a very muscled arm towards Nkosazana, an offering for her to take it. "If your decision is not already set in stone, I implore you, priestess, please at least hear her out first. Medea's path may have been fraught with mistakes, but I believe her intentions have been good."

Seiana_ZI

 

[Seiana_ZI]

Destroy Death himself...

What even happened to them without Death? It was the very name of their clan, the core of what they were. What would Aisa think of all of this? Why did some others of them seem to be alright with this? It made no sense to her--they were all taken in by the temporary satisfaction and reward without thinking of future consequence. This wouldn't get them anywhere.

As much as she thought that, Wrath was right in that Nkosazana was willing to listen to others, even when their opinions did not agree. She appreciated the honesty, and so, she took a bit of a defensive position, but listened, not saying anything until Wrath was done talking.

Something she was gathering right at the start was that Wrath was of a different opinion. Neither of them seemed to quite agree with Medea, but he seemed to be on the angle of the ends justifying the means, whereas she was of the exact opposite opinion. There was another angle in there, too--that they were back together again, united, like they were before. All different classes, striving towards the same goal, each with their own parts to play. Everything was so blended now that much of that was lost. A priestess was not all that much different from her guardian, except for her mastery of FEAR, after all.

There was definitely a part of her that missed that deeply.

The other part, though, could not understand why two years was considered such a long time. It wasn't. Sure, they had gone quiet for now, but they were rebuilding, at a slow pace. They could not pretend to know what Death had in mind, but Death was always much smarter than them. The fact that he was an Ancient in and of itself made his consciousness far beyond their conscious understanding. All she knew, though, was that he had their best intentions at heart. Why would the leader of Death himself want The Clan of Death, his descendant, to be destroyed, or even worse, for death to consume him?

She sighed.

"I see that you have a similar opinion to some others -- that we were doing things incorrectly. I am not so certain that is the case. I know we're used to glory, and as the descendants of the old gods, fairly so, but we needed to give Death more time. Rebelling and causing utter chaos, alienating allies," because she couldn't see much of Halloween being happy with what happened, "it's not right. It's not right."

It's not right. It's not right.

Nkosazana pinched the bridge of her nose, tilting her head back. She remained that way, for a moment, before shifting back so she was standing straight, letting a deep breath out.

"I agree she has made many mistakes. I am not so certain her intentions have always been so positive, though. She's destructive. She's calling herself our Queen." She saw his arm, but did not take it. At the same time, however, she did not so readily storm away, standing there silently instead.

After a few moments, she offered, "I cannot trust her, but I can see what she does."

Seussi

 

[Pixie Krysta Ordreg]

Kasja didn't speak to Yves, she once again just simply nods as she follows him. If it hadn't been for him, she would have walked away. She didn't trust Medea, period. She was only willing to give this a chance because she counted Yves as one of her friends. Puling her hand free the moment she was able to, her gaze took in the new home for the Four Clans.

It honestly made her catch her breath, the beauty of it. It was unlike anything she seen before, not even in the human world. a truly worthy place for the four clan who lost so much.

Turning her pale blue eyes back towards the water as Medea spoke of purifying them. Her eyes narrow for a moment under her who as she slips her fingers around the fragment hanging off her waist. It confused her, why this had to happen. But she once again said nothing as she watched Yves, along with a priestess from her own clan dip the fragments into the water. Her fingers for a moment just ran over the cold fragment, her lip slipping between her teeth as she chews on it.

After a few moment, she finally steps forward. carefully unlacing the leather string that held it to her belt. Holding it out, she watch the dark pink glow for a brief moment before she allows it to slip out of her hand. Dangling by the string, she lowers the fragment into the water to purify it.